NEVER Stratos
by Code-Emperor07
Summary: What if Ichika had died a few days after he was kidnapped? What if he was given a second chance at life? Only as an undead. Will he be able to hold onto his past? Or will he throw it away? Ichika Orimura...welcome to NEVER. Stronger Ichika. No longer accepting OCs.
1. Prologue: Welcome to NEVER

Foreword:

Okay, so before the story starts, I'd like to mention a few things, and it is fair to warn you:

1) I do not know much about Kamen Rider W except for the movies.

2) I have not read much of the Infinite Stratos LN so I am sorry if I get a few facts wrong.

* * *

NEVER Stratos

Darkness…

That is all the young child could see. His own labored breathing was the only sound he could hear in the enclosed metal room. The door was obviously locked from the outside, and there wasn't even a window to help illuminate the place, although it would be hard to tell due to the blindfold wrapped around his eyes. He had been kidnapped from his own home as he was watching television, and taken into an abandoned warehouse. But not before being knocked out cold, and brutally assaulted when he resisted.

Such is the misfortune of being the younger brother to one of the strongest IS users in the world: Chifuyu Orimura.

A 10 year old Ichika Orimura was bound to a metal pole with rope tied around his wrists and arms in an empty room being held hostage. His captors were from a corporation that did not wish for his sister to win this year's Mondo Grosso. Because of this, they chose to kidnap Chifuyu's little brother, and hold him for ransom in exchange for her to forfeit, or he will be killed. However, when she was sent the live video feed of the ransom, Ichika told his sister not to worry about him and just win the competition, much to his captors' rage.

"Man, what are the chances of this even happening?" he mused. His eye was black and throbbing from being punched in the eye courtesy of one of his captors. The metallic stench of blood filled his nostrils as another one of the thugs bruised it. A dull pain plagued his arms and legs as they were the receiving end of being beaten by a metal pipe and baseball bat. And another threw a knife near his leg to stop him from escaping when he saw a chance to run away earlier, nicking it in the process.

All in all, it was a pretty rough morning.

However, after getting beaten up and on the verge of losing consciousness, he managed to listen to some of the words his captor spoke to one of his goons.

* * *

_"Alright, now that we have the brat, contact Orimura Chifuyu. Tell her that either she forfeits the Mondo Grosso, or we kill her little brother." The assumed leader ordered, gesturing to the beaten form of Ichika._

"_Yes sir!" the man said as he left. Unable to retain consciousness any longer, Ichika went out like a light._

* * *

"I got to get out of here. Otherwise Chifuyu-nee will fall right into their hands." He grunted as he yanked the rope that bound his wrists. "There's gotta be something to get these things off me."

The 10 year old boy felt around him for anything, anything useful. His finger felt something cut him. By the feeling he was getting, it seemed to be broken piece of metal with the edge still sharp.

Wasn't that convenient?

He dragged the metal fragment closer to him with his fingers and slowly picked it up. This was no garbage…it was a tool. He silently used the metal fragment to cut the rope. The coarse edge of it also cut into his palm, but he just bit the inside of his mouth to suppress a yelp of pain. It took a while, but he managed to cut enough to break through the rope with strength alone.

He heard one man mentioned they must leave soon and he will prepare their car. He heard the sound of door closing as the first man left.

After few moments another man whispered he need to use the bath room and went outside.

Now it was the perfect chance. He can hear the last man letting out a cough as sound of the man sitting down on a couch was heard. He heard the sound of a TV being turned on. Now was truly the last chance.

Ichika slowly removed the rope from his arm with his bloody hand. He was taught how to fight from his sister and the Shinonono dojo with his childhood friend Houki. After she left he continued to train furiously and managed to beat several older kids in a different dojo, and secretly from his older sister, some bullies in the street.

He silently stood up, ignoring the screaming pain in his arms and legs, and undid the blindfold that kept his vision in the dark. Upon regaining his sight, he observed that he was in a rather spacious yet dimly lit room, about 25 feet by 20 feet, filled with old metal crates and pipes. He assumed this was just a storage room. As he looked up as he saw where the only source of light peeked through, he could see that there was a window right above him. He would've been able to escape through it, but it was too high up to reach. In his hand was a rather bloody and rusty, yet still sharp shard of metal. It was about 8 inches long and about 2 inches wide. He turned his head and saw the door, which had some light pouring from underneath it. And the sounds heard from the other side can be determined that a television set was on. He quietly opened the door and saw a man sitting on a couch with his back turned watching TV. He slowly approached the man from the back, treading lightly on the stone floor.

He was just a foot behind the careless man. He was watching a IS tournament that his sister was at.

He quickly grabbed a medium sized piece of rubble that lay nearby and lifted it with all his strength. His body was burning in pain from its weight, but he did his best to ignore it and focus on the task at hand. In a few quiet steps, he slammed the broken concrete on top of the man's head, effectively knocking him out, along with some blood tricking down his face.

"That's one…" Ichika wasn't sure if the man was dead or not, so he just assumed that he only knocked him out. He then began to search the man for anything that would be useful. After rummaging through the man's coat, he found a semi-automatic pistol, a combat, and unusually, a metal baseball bat. Seeing as the latter two may be useful since he had no experience in using firearms, he carefully placed the knife concealed in its sheathe through a belt loop in his pants, and carried the bat on his shoulder, putting the pistol aside.

He heard the sound of toilet being flushed. It would take the second man about 30 seconds to be here. Ichika made the unconscious man look as if he was still awake watching TV. He even had time to draw eyes over the man's eyelids. In this dimly lit warehouse, it was hard to tell any way.

He ran back into the room that detained him, but only opened it by a crack to peer through. The second man walked in.

"Oi! The boss told us to get out. The ride's ready. Grab the brat too." The second man wasn't even looking at the guy on the couch. The man was looking at his phone as he walked. "This boring ass job for the bitch is over man. Let's go back already." He walked to the dead man. "You alright man?" In the midst of the man's distraction, he was ignorant of the 10 year old boy sneaking up behind him, metal bat raised above his head.

Crack!

A sickening crack echoed throughout the warehouse as the man fell face first onto the stone floor unconscious.

"Huff, huff, huff,…t…two…down…" he coughed and stood up. His body was still shaking like a leaf from both excitement and fear from the experience. A look of absolute terror was evident in his eyes. He also struggled to stop himself from vomiting. He looked at the open door of the warehouse.

"One left…" he muttered.

However, the sound of a knife being swung snapped to his attention.

"Gah!" screamed Ichika as he held his right side of his face, covering his cheek where the blade had struck. If Ichika hadn't reacted quick enough, he would've lost an eye.

"You killed my subordinates! I am fucking going to kill you for that brat!" The last man walked in with a bloody knife in hand.

He was taller than the other two. He was in a black suit as well, but he had a scar on his left eyes. His hair was black and short with a goatee with a handlebar mustache and his face had a frightening expression.

"Fuck order from the cold bitch! I am going to kill so slowly. So slowly that you wish you were dead. After this I am going ask for a job to get that sister of yours. I am going fuck'n rape her smug sexy ass and turn her into a common slut. Then I am going slice her to a million fuck'n pieces and feed her to the dogs!"

The moment he heard the man threaten his sister, his blood went cold. His pain and fear faded and was replaced with raging, utter fury. He muttered something

"Huh?...what you said you little shit." The mustache guy questioned, not really caring for the answer.

"I said…I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Ichika struggled like a berserk beast. With his bloody face and eyes he jumped on top of the man in a blur. He man fell down in surprise, but quickly tried to over-power the boy. Ichika's mind was filled with single thoughts "Hell…hell…"

His eye went wide. "GO TO HELL!"

His little body filled with rage and power he smashed his fingers into man's eye sockets.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGGHHHHHHHH…..!" he screamed.

"For threatening my sister, you are going to die!" shouted Ichika as he hoisted up the bat once more and proceeded to pound the man into the asphalt. The man struggled in an attempt to try and over-power Ichika, but the boy wouldn't budge, but instead just slammed the metal bat down harder, shattering the man's arms, shoulders, and ribs. The young Orimura then smacked the bat against the man's throat, crushing his windpipe. Still in a frenzied state, Ichika decided to end this. So he picked up the combat knife and stabbed the man right between the eyes, then yanked it back out ignoring the blood and gray matter, and sliced the man's throat clean through to the opposite side.

The warehouse was silent…besides the sound of sobbing.

The young Orimura had experienced his first kill at a young age of 10 years.

Ichika's body shook like leaf as the surge of adrenaline and strength he gained from rage slowly left him. He killed him…he killed a man…A living person.

He remembered when his sister taught him with a real sword. "It's heavy isn't? Ichika that is a weight of a weapon that can end a life. Remember it."

"You are wrong Neesan…weight of a life…is too light." The boy whispered somberly, his body still trembling from the experience. Tears of fear were pouring from his eyes like a waterfall. He soon doubled over as he pressed a hand against his mouth in a attempt to keep down the vomit, but he threw up anyway.

Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock! Tick tock!

He didn't realized how long he stood there all bloody, tired, and smelled like bile.

"I am so tired…pain…I can't feel it either…"

Ichika stared into blank space as he held a rather dull look in his eyes.

"Nee chan…Where are you?"

He wandered around the area, not paying attention to his surroundings.

"I…killed someone…I killed someone…Chifuyu-nee."

If Ichika hadn't still been shocked from his first kill, he would've noticed the thug he knocked out with the baseball bat reach into his coat pocket and pull out a device which looked to be a detonator. He pressed the button and activate a series of plastic explosives attached to the walls and support beams. The bombs activated, with a timer that started to count down from 1 minute. He then tried to escape the warehouse before the entire building went up in smoke, but not before killing the brat that killed his boss. So he slowly crept up to him, grabbing a metal pipe leaning against the wall, and raised it in an attempt to brain the boy. However, despite how quiet the man was, Ichika still heard him, as he picked up the gun that he had tossed away earlier, took the safety off, and made sure it was loaded. It was.

Just as the man was right above Ichika, he spun around, surprising the man as he aimed the pistol at the man's heart and pulled the trigger.

BANG! The bullet made impact, but the recoil from the firearm forced it away from its target. So Ichika fired again and again, ignoring the pain in his arms from each recoil. The man spasmed as his body was soon riddled with bullets, before he collapsed onto the ground bleeding.

Ichika killed for the second time.

In yet, another period of shock and horror as he threw the gun away, and curled up into a ball, rocking back and forth on the ground crying.

CRASH!

He heard a sound of wall falling as a feminine figure enters the warehouse through the recently made hole in the wall. "That shape…an IS?" mumbled Ichika.

"Ichika! Where are you!?" shouted his sister.

"I'm over here!" he cried, getting her attention as she turned toward him. Despite the fact he was covered in blood and holding bloody weapons, Chifuyu was just glad he was safe, she'll just have to chew him out for answers later.

Just as Ichika tried to run toward his sister, the C-4 explosives continued to reach down to zero, with only 4 seconds left on the timer.

00:03...

00:02...

00:01...

KA-BOOM!

The bombs set off all at once, unleashing a chain reaction of explosions.

The force of the explosion caused the ceiling and some sections of the walls to break apart and collapse. The young Orimura tried to outrun the falling debris, but he was too slow as a large section of the ceiling fell on top of him, burying him alive in rubble.

"ICHIKA!"

As the smoke subsided, the entire warehouse was in ruins. Chifuyu quickly moved away any rubble that might've collapsed onto Ichika. A few minutes of unearthing her brother, she could hear breathing, although it is very shallow. She pulled away the last piece of broken concrete, but the sight before her sank her spirits to despair and anguish.

Ichika was in one piece, but that was the only good news. Each of his limbs were pinned down by broken support beams, effectively crushing them. Some broken glass and debris embedded themselves into his shoulder and ribcage, just missing his vital organs. However, there was a chance some of his internal organs had ruptured from the impact. There was a huge gash on his forehead from where a piece of rubble had struck, leaving him with a concussion. The only clue that showed he was still alive was his shallow breathing. It was a miracle he didn't die, but he was hanging on the edge.

"Ichika! Ichika! Are you alright?"

At the sound of her voice, the 10 year old boy stirred slightly in response, "…Ch-Chifuyu…nee?"

"Ichika! Don't worry; I'll get you to the hospital. Just hang on!" With that said, she pulled away the remaining rubble that pinned down her brother and carried him in her arms. She flew him to the nearest hospital as fast as her IS could allow. In short, they arrived in the hospital within 2 minutes.

* * *

It had been about a week since the event at the warehouse, and to say Chifuyu was worried would be an understatement.

Ichika had been strapped to life support and sent to the emergency room in an attempt to save his life. It had been a whole 8 hours during the time he was in the E.R.

While she may not show it, the eldest Orimura was extremely anxious about the fate of her younger brother. After she had left their parents and took him with her, he is the only family she has. Chifuyu had phoned her friend Shinonono Tabane, the genius who was the inventor of the IS, of the incident just yesterday, and she answered that she will arrive as fast as she could with something that will help.

* * *

Flashback

The moment the doctor came out of the emergency room a few minutes later. Chifuyu immediately walked up to the woman to get an answer.

"Doctor, is he going to be alright?" she asked with a calm persona, but her eyes showed a large amount of worry and anxiety.

"…I'm sorry. We did all we could, but we cannot be certain. His limbs were crushed to the point the bone fragments embedded themselves in the muscle tissue, and the same could be said for his internal organs. He had suffered blunt force trauma to the cranium, and if it were any harder, then he would've been dead for sure. It wouldn't be a surprise if he woke up with amnesia, or at least some memory loss."

"But there is a chance he'll be alright?" Chifuyu asked, her calm façade betrayed by the slight tone of desperation in her voice.

"There is. However, it is a low chance. I am sorry, but there is nothing more we can do at the moment. We can only hope he can regain consciousness. But it may not be for a few days." The doctor said solemnly as she walked away, leaving Chifuyu to her thoughts.

'_Screw this! If there is even a chance of him surviving, then he'll make it. I just know he will.'_ Chifuyu thought. She was then told that the hospital would be closing soon, so she decided to leave.

When Chifuyu visited the next day, she immediately went up to her brother's hospital room. As soon as she opened the door, she took a sharp intake of breath in surprise. She merely stared as she saw her brother was induced with morphine and had wires crawling out of his body leading to various machines on his bedside.

After about half an hour, a woman walked inside the room. She was around in her mid thirties and her with along black hair tied up in a bun.

"Hello, I was assigned to be Ichika-san's nurse. I'll be watching over him for now. So please, don't worry." she politely replied.

Chifuyu merely nodded and said, "Arigatou." Deciding she needed some fresh air, Chifuyu excused herself from the room. Not long after, the nurse's cellphone begun to ring.

"Moshi moshi? Yes...I've been assigned to watch over him...yes. He may not survive given the extent of his injuries...Don't worry, I have the necessary materials. I just require the distraction, and then you can make the switch. Are you sure this is the one you want? Alright. Well get right on it...Katsumi."

* * *

**Unknown POV**

"Are you sure this is the one you want?" The voice from the phone asked.

"Yes. From what we've seen, he has the potential that we would need if we want to be accepted by Foundation X. With some training, we are bound to be accepted." I replied.

"Alright. Well get right on it...Katsumi."

"Bye Mom." I turned my cell phone off. I picked up the tote bag laying by my feet and slung it over my shoulder.

* * *

Chifuyu decided to go outside for some fresh air. She simply sat on the bench by the entrance and stared at the afternoon sky, the sun slowly descending on the horizon. She felt relatively calm in this moment of peace. She had been doing the same routine since yesterday since she had no control over the condition of her brother, all she could do was wait and hope for the best. The cool evening air brushed on her skin, slightly easing the tension that she had in mind.

However, the moment came to an end when a large object can be seen plummeting down from the sky right towards her. Taking the best course of action, she moved away from its direction of landing, avoiding being hit. The object crashed into the ground, kicking up dust and some pieces of concrete from the sidewalk. Upon closer examination, the metal object appeared to be a large metal carrot about 8 feet tall. And Chifuyu had a good idea who was inside. When it came to entrances like this, only one person came to mind.

"Chi-Chan!" A young woman jumped out of the carrot as it split open. She was wearing a frilly light blue dress, and a pair of mechanical bunny ears that seemed to match her violet colored hair. She made an attempt to hug Chifuyu, only to get a smack to the head.

"Mou~! Is that the greeting I get for not seeing you in so long?" she whined.

"Tabane, enough! We don't have time for this kind of nonsense. You said you would be able to help right?" Chifuyu demanded.

Tabane's usually cheerful expression was replaced by a completely serious one. "Hai, just lead me to where he is. I have something that may help." She answered, as she lifted metal briefcase that was the size of an office desk. It would've been heavy to carry, especially what was inside if it weren't for the wheels.

"So are you sure that this will help him?" she gestured to the case Tabane held.

"Of course! You are talking about the great genius Shinonono Tabane after all!" she smiled. She unlocked the case and opened it, revealing to be a chamber-like device that is able to hold small person. There were various wires and lights covering the outer layer of the device. There was what appeared to be a monitor on the side, designed to show a person's BMI, blood sugar levels, bone density, nutrition levels, heart rate, breathing, hydration levels, cell activity, brain activity, and level of injuries.

"...Alright, I give up. What exactly is it?"

"It is a Life Support Chamber. I designed it to be capable of recording a person's biological data and condition of health. It also stimulates the body's cells to become more active and accelerate the body's healing process. I've also added doses of adrenaline in case the patient's heart rate is reduced below regular activity. It is also air tight and waterproof so there is no risk of either it or the patient from being damaged. "

"That's...amazing. This will really help." Chifuyu was impressed.

"Of course. Although, the side affect of the cell stimulation is that it makes the body's hair and nails grow more rapidly due to their body tissues becoming more active than usual."

"Is that the only side effect?"

"Yep~!" Tabane grinned.

"Okay...but what if the patient needs to eat, drink, or even breathe if it's airtight?" she was now skeptical of the entire device.

"Duh...I'm not an idiot. There are oxygen tubes located inside the machine, as well as a liquid valve so he would still be able to drink anything from the outside. As for food, I made a hatch for that. There is also a hatch for him to use the bathroom."she explained with a grin, proud of her work.

"Okay...If that's the case, I see no other problem with it. Let's go." They were about to leave, until a single sound broke the quiet environment.

BOOM! The ground shook as an explosion erupted from the hospital. It originated from the 6th floor in the east wing.

_'A terrorist attack? But wait...that floor and wing…That's where Ichika is!_' Chifuyu realized.

"Tabane, come on!" Chifuyu ordered as she ran back inside the building.

"Hai!" Tabane immediately followed, dragging the metal case behind her. However, the sheer weight of it slowed her down drastically.

* * *

**A few minutes ago, in a certain hospital room.**

The white walls of the room's interior seemed to glow brighter from the fluorescent lights. The smell of disinfectant still lingered in the area, and the only sounds that can be heard were monitors and machines beeping, and a patient's breathing. The patient was strapped down onto a mechanical bed with numerous tubes and wires attached to him, in attempt to keep his condition stable. The patient had just regained consciousness a few moments ago.

The young Orimura was resting quietly on the bed. But his mind was racing in anxiety, as everyone fears death. He was just bandaged up gotten out from surgery. However, that does not mean it is guaranteed he will survive on account of his injuries. He had regained consciousness a few moments ago. But his eyes that used to have a glow of life, were now dark and hollow.

_'Wh-where am I? I-I can't feel anything, not my arms, or my legs, I can't even move my head...Is this what dying feels like?'_

Tears leaked from his eyes as he feared his possible end. The sounds from the monitor beside him steadily became slower.

_'I...I don't want to die...Chifuyu-nee. Where are...you...?'_ he mentally cried. Unaware that his life was slipping away. _'So...is this it...? I-I'll never see...Rin...Dan...Ran...Tabane...or Houki...a...gain...'_ His eyelids became heavier as they slowly drooped more and more and his breathing became shallower. As this occurred, only one though passed through his mind_ 'Ev...ery...one...I'm... sorry.'_

BOOM!

A loud explosion was heard nearby by all except for him, as the sound of his heart monitor was now reduced to a flat prolonged beep. With that, Ichika Orimura had already passed from this world.

* * *

**Later…**

"Ichika!" Chifuyu shouted as she ran up the stairs to her younger brother's room. The elevator was malfunctioning due to the explosion and it wasn't worth the risk to take. And she couldn't use her IS without destroying even more of the building. However, as they ascended up the stairs, more explosions, albeit smaller ones continued to shake the hospital.

"Chi-chan~! Hold on, this case is hard to carry up the stairs!" Tabane cried as she was lugging the large metal case behind her, while still climbing the stairs at slower pace.

"No time! Who knows what happened to Ichika? He could be dying right now! Just hurry up!"

"Hai!"

About several seconds later of running at full speed, or in Tabane's case moderately fast, both women finally reached the sixth floor. However, what they saw was a sorry sight.

The entire floor was broken apart and in flames. Smoke, dirt, and dust clouded the air, making it difficult to breathe. She ripped off a piece of cloth from the sleeve of her shirt and pressed it against her mouth to help filter the smoke. She then ran across the corridor until she was in front of her brother's room "Ichika!" she cried, only to get no response. Alarmed by the lack of an answer, she broke the door down, only to see a large portion of the room to be charred and broekn apart, and Ichika's body unhooked from the machines lying on the cold tile floor unmoving.

"I...Ichika...no...NO!" She dropped to the ground and cradled her younger brother's motionless body.

"Ikkun!" Tabane cried as she ran into the room and saw the young child's condition. Throwing the metal case aside, she knelt beside her friend. Tears pouring out from her eyes as she noticed Ichika was not moving, not even breathing.

"Is…is he…?"

"No! Ichika you better not die on me!...Not now dammit!" Chifuyu screamed her voice cracked slightly from emotion as she hugged her little brother's body. There was no pain worse than losing a loved one, especially the only family you have left.

A few moments passed, but nothing happened. Both women looked down in complete sorrow and despair, until a small movement in her arms snapped Chifuyu back into the world.

"...Chi...fuyu...nee?" the young boy attempted to speak as his eyes cracked open.

"I-Ichika? She stuttered, surprised by these turn of events, tears of joy running down her face.

"Ikkun! You're alive!" Tabane cried, now crying tears of joy as she wrapped her arms around the young Orimura in a suffocating death hug.

"N...nice to see you a-again T-Tabane-san...Can't... breathe!" He choked out.

"Tabane, get off of him! You're going to kill him."

"But I was just happy he was alive!" she retorted. In short, the two were locked in an argument, which made the younger Orimura to sweat drop in confusion.

However, unbeknownst to the two, the young Ichika had what appeared to be a serial code and an oddly shaped tattoo imprinted on the back of his neck, concealed by his hair.

* * *

**A Few Minutes ago. Unknown POV**

"Looks like the 'terrorist attack' was a success. Now where was that boy located? She said it was room 506." A voice mused to himself. His appearance was concealed by the uplifted smoke, but it was evident that he had a metal crate that was large enough to hold a child next to him. He opened the door to the boy's room and saw that the child's heart monitor was in a steady flat line and that his breathing had stopped. The child was already dead.

"Well, I guess this saves the trouble of retrieving your corpse. It's hard to believe that children as young as you are taken by death." He mused. He unhooked the body from the numerous machines that crawled from the machines and lifted the boy from the bed.

"Now to leave this here." He said as he opened the metal crate, revealing a young boy with messy black hair that looked to be around 10 years old. If he had opened his eyes, bright red irises would've been seen. In short, it was an exact replica of the recently deceased Ichika Orimura. He laid the replica onto the floor and set a small plastic device on the far end of the room. Setting the time for 5 minutes and activating it. As the timer counted down, he placed the body of the original Ichika into the crate, closing the lid and locking it, and pulled it out of the room. Seeing as he was pressed for time, he decided to go through the express route. Making sure there were no witnesses, he opened one of the windows that faced the backside of the hospital as the police would most likely be towards the front.

He did something that no sane man would do when they are on the sixth floor of a building. He jumped while the holding the metal case with him. a loud explosion sounded behind him, signifying the bomb timer counted to zero.

As soon as he hit the ground, a sickening crunch echoed through the area, signifying the bones in the man's legs were now fragmented and popped out of place. He metal crate made a loud _CLANG_ as it impacted on the concrete. Although, it was remarkable that the casing was undamaged except for a small scratch. However, even though the man's legs were supposedly broken, dislocated, and bent at an odd angle, he appeared to be in no pain or agony.

What happened next would've been shocking if there witnesses; he bent his legs back into place without even a single grunt of pain. He also then relocated his knees back in place as a revulsive pop echoed through the area, and stood up despite his bones being cracked. It was as if his legs were never damaged at all. He causally grabbed the crate and made his way over to a blue convertible car that was parked behind a few storage crates. He opened up the trunk and placed the crate holding the boy's body inside. He then walked over to the driver seat, started the car, and drove off.

* * *

**Later, in an Unknown Location**.

A young man in in his late teens or early twenties wearing a black and red outfit. His long messy hair and blue highlights. walked into the room, carrying a young, bandaged, black haired boy over his shoulders. He carefully set the child down on the table. "I got him. Now, let's start."

"Right." The woman replied as she placed a vial of liquid in a serum injector and placed the needle inside the corpse's arm. With a click, the liquid from the vial flowed into the dead body, causing what appeared to be glowing lights to crawl across the boy's skin. The woman took out the needle after completely injecting the green liquid. A few seconds after the procedure, the child's eyes began to move, then flicker. Eventually, he fully opened his eyes, signifying that he was awake.

"N-nani...? I-is this the afterlife?" The child then begun to observe his surroundings, his attention turned toward the other two people in the room.

"Who are you guys?" Ichika questioned, confused by his current situation.

"My apologies, let us introduce ourselves. My name is Mikki Daido, and the young man over there his my son, Katsumi."

"What happened to me? I thought I died back there, how am I alive?" the youth questioned.

"You're not exactly alive."

"What?"

"What I mean is, you are a Necro Over, or NEVER, like myself. We are just living corpses."

"So…like a zombie?"

"Not exactly. We still act like living human beings, but we are far superior. Our bodies are immortal."

"So, we can't die?"

"That is not entirely true." The older woman spoke as she held up a vial with green liquid. "If you do not take this cell maintenance enzyme regularly, you will return to being a corpse."

"…Really?"

"Yes."

"B-but, why go through the trouble of doing this for me? I'm just a little brother of a Mondo Grosso champion. Other than that, I'm pretty much average."

"Heh, if you ask me, you are not as average as you thought."

"Nani?"

"We saw what you did in that warehouse. Even though you were mostly paralyzed with fear, you still managed to knock out a couple of those thugs, and kill their leader. Not bad if I do say so myself. Besides, you are the younger brother of Brunhilde, Chifuyu Orimura."

"But what about my sister? I'm pretty sure she'll be upset that my body, that was in critical condition and was on the verge of death, to be missing." Ichika replied.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Right now, she is probably relieved that you managed to survive, albeit with some memory loss. Nevertheless, she most likely will not suspect anything.

"W-wait, what do you mean survived? I thought I died back there."

"You did die, and we managed to revive you here."

"B-but, how?"

"We replaced your corpse at the hospital with an exact clone of you."

"We are working on a project to be funded by Corporation X. It is called Necro-Over, or abbreviated as NEVER. Katsumi here is the first subject after dying in a traffic accident. We have also used the same process to revive you."

"...Ehhhhh!?"

"We've taken the liberty of cloning you using various DNA samples."

"Wait what?"

"We took some DNA samples when you did not notice. We had a small reconnaissance device no larger than the average house fly obtaining certain tissues necessary for the cloning process." Mikki stated as she showed him a small camera-like object with wings.

"You don't have to worry. We've taken the liberty of replacing your dying body with a fully healthy clone thanks to the technology we were given as an award from one of our clients." The woman explained.

"A clone? Wouldn't that be impossible?"

"Normally, yes. But the technology we received was compatible with our Necro Over research, so we found a way to stabilize the clone's genetic structure so it would be healthy and age normally like the original. However, as well all know, cloning is not perfect, so the clone needs to take regular doses of this serum that is similar to the cell maintenance enzyme, or its genetic makeup will become unstable and it will break down and die." she explained, holding up a greenish yellow liquid in a small glass vial.

"Fortunately, we were able to prescribe the stabilizer as a form of medicine for after your operation before you got here. Also, this cloning technology is rather revolutionary. For every clone it makes can unconsciously relay memories back to the original being. However, we have yet to discover if it functions for NEVERs like yourself, so we are using you for a test. If you see images or gain memories that suddenly pop into your head, then we know that you are receiving memories from your clone. Now if you excuse me, I have some papers to finish." with that explanation, Mikki excused herself from the room.

"Also, since you have a clone currently taking your place as 'Ichika Orimura', you are going to need a different name. However, my mother is currently filling out forms to verify you adoption, so you would have the surname of Daido now.

"…I understand. How about... Daido Shirou?" Ichika asked after giving it some thought.

"Why Shirou?"

"Because I kind of like the color white." he stated simply.

"If that is what you want, then fine by me."

"Arigatou...Nii-san."

"Nii-san?"

"Yeah, since I'm being adopted by your mother, that would make you my older brother right?" the young boy asked, memories of his former older sibling slowly being buried.

"Hmmm Very well then…otouto. Now..." Katsumi then handed Ichika a black and red uniform. "Orimura Ichika…or should I say, Daido Shirou…Welcome to NEVER. We will begin your training soon."

To Be Continued…

* * *

Author's Notes: I've had the idea for this story for a while, and decided it was a good time to write it to improve my skills in and skills as a writer. Also, my Highschool DxD story is NOT dead. I just have writer's block at the moment, thinking about how to make it better.

I apologize if I made any of the characters OOC, but you have to understand that Chifuyu thought her brother just died in front of her eyes and in her arms. And just to warn you, Ichika(The real one), will become more and more OOC as the story progresses. And I apologize if the ending to the prologue sucked. And I'm sorry if Katsumi is OOC, but that is because it has only been a few years since he was a NEVER, so he has very few fragments of human compassion.

And if you guys think that cloning with is cliche and impossible, need I remind you that this world had futuristic military weapons used only by women, technology that can bring the dead back to life, and devices that utilize the power of Earth's memories. And the cloning memory function, it acts the same as shadow clones memories from Naruto if the explanation sounded confusing.

I am also accepting OCs for members of NEVER. However, they must be around Ichika's age. Send submissions via review or PM.

Here is the Profile

**Name:**

**Age when died(Also when taken in by NEVER):**

**Current Age:**

**Appearance:**

**History:**

**Personality:**

**Weapon of Choice:**

**Gaia Memory(Can be Original Gaia Memory or from the Series):**

**Fighting Style:**

**Kamen Rider or Dopant(Please give appearance of this form as well):**

**Anything else I should know:**


	2. Training and a New Battle

NEVER Stratos Chapter 1: Training and a New Battle

"Again!"

"Hyah!" Shirou yelled as he landed another hit on the dummy. It has been a few days since Shirou had begun his training as a NEVER. As of now, his main weapon is the katana sword.

He wasn't being taught how to use just a simple katana, he was being trained on using Anti-IS weaponry to counter the device that made females dominant. They were able to purchase a few pieces of this technology from some using most of the funds they still had. As of now, one of the stronger weapons Shirou has in his arsenal is an Anti-IS sword.

"Even though you have just begun training, you're pretty good with that katana." Katsumi complimented.

"Arigatou, I remember that I learned kendo in my past life. I could remember my older sister teaching me, as well as learning from a dojo, but that is pretty much it."

"It's understandable. After you become a NEVER, you slowly lose memories from when you were still alive."

"I know…But I don't need a past to create a future." He said.

"Those are words that are so true. Now then, instead of hacking away at a dummy, let's see how you do in actual combat." He said as he drew a combat knife.

"Is that what you are using? A combat knife?" Shirou asked as Katsumi twirled the short blade around his fingers.

"Yes. It's something I feel better suited for."

"Well, I'll just stick with my katana."

Katsumi nodded in understanding. "Let's go."

Shirou made the first move as he closed in quickly and swung his katana. Katsumi parried it with his knife as he side stepped and rushed towards Shirou and stabbed him through the ribs. However, the young boy didn't even flinch as he yanked the blade out and twisted Katsumi's wrist, causing him the drop the knife. Shirou aimed for a downward slash at the unarmed man, but he sent a sweep kick to knock Shirou off his feet. The older NEVER lunged for his fallen weapon and picked it up.

"You're doing pretty good so far." Katsumi complimented.

"Thanks."

"However, it's still not good enough." The elder Daido lunged forward and was bringing his knife down to slash Shirou, but the boy brought up his katana and blocked the smaller blade with the sharp edge and pushed it away. Seeing this chance, Shirou continued to press his attack by quickly slashing the man's body, leaving a rather deep wound across Katsumi's torso. A large red line was left from the attack as blood continued to trickle from the cut.

However, Katsumi didn't even register the pain as he continued the fight. He stepped in, but evaded Shirou's attack as he moved around and slashed the boy across the back.

Shirou simply flinched at the sharp pain as he performed a backslash. Katsumi simply jumped back as he expected the upcoming move. Both adopted siblings faced one another, weapons at ready. However, Katsumi just dropped his stance saying, "I think that is enough for right now."

Shirou relaxed his form as well.

It had been 5 years since Daido Shirou had become a NEVER, and barely even remembered some aspects of his past life. Since then, he has been trained through various methods to prepare him for combat purposes. However, his training is not based around only weaponry...

* * *

"Now Shirou, I want you to practice hand to hand combat." Katsumi said as they moved to a different part of the training room, this one with more open space.

"Okay." Shirou answered as he got into a fighting stance.

"Let's go." Katsumi started off with a spin back kick, which Shirou caught, but it knocked him back. Katsumi threw a hard punch top Shirou's head, dislocating his neck in the process. As the young boy fell down, Katsumi just stared at the body, knowing it wasn't going to kill him. And sure enough, Shirou began to move as he slowly stood up, grabbed his head with both hand, and proceeded to pop it back into place.

"Gah! Man, that was pretty uncomfortable." Shirou grunted as he rolled his neck.

"You get used to it after a while. Let's continue."

They charged in at one another to trade blows. Shirou went for a spinning back kick, but Katsumi just grabbed his leg and flipped him over. The young boy landed on his feet and as he jumped back up and threw out a right hook to the face. Again, Katsumi caught it, but Shirou followed up by headbutting him in the face, causing him to stagger as Shirou finished it with a strong side kick, sending the older Daido crashing into the wall.

The young Daido ran up to his surrogate brother as the battle ended. "Are you okay, Nii-san?"

"Yeah, that was a pretty good move otouto." Katsumi complimented as he stood up.

* * *

"Why are we going inside a giant freezer?"

"To test your ability for combat in different environments." Katsumi explained as he opened the door to the rather spacious freezer storage.

"Agh, it's cold." Shirou shivered, breathing in his hands to try to warm them.

"That is the point. It's to help you get used to the different environments. And don't worry, since we are already dead, we can't freeze to death."

"Oh yeah, that's right..." Shirou remembered.

"Now, let's go."

"Just as Shirou was about to rush in and execute a jump side kick... he slid on a patch of ice.

"Itai." he groaned as he stood up. Katsumi just sweatdropped.

"We'll work on that later. Hopefully you can do better in the next environment."

* * *

They drove to the coastline towards the beach. It was empty, with not a single person in the area.

"Let's see how well you fight on sand."

"Is this really necessary?" Shirou questioned.

"Yes, what would happen if you face combat in a sandy area and not become used to it? Now let's start." Katsumi said as he lashed out a side kick to the unprepared Shirou as he was knocked back and fell face first into the sand.

After Shirou stood back up, he coughed and spat out a bit of sand. "Oh, it is on Nii-san!" Shirou said as he charged.

"That's the spirit, otouto."

They continued another bout of sparring. But just as Shirou was about to land a punch, his head had begun to throb. He stopped his attack mid-swing and clutched his head in an attempted to dull the agony.

"Otouto, what's wrong?" Katsumi went by his surrogate brother's side.

Shirou however, couldn't hear his words as his mind drifted towards a different setting. His mind painted an image of what appeared to be a doctor, a young woman in her late teens or early twenties with long black hair. The presumed doctor and woman were having a conversation...

* * *

"I'd say your brother Ichika is steadily recovering, miss Orimura. However, he is suffering a big case of memory loss." The doctor explained.

"What do you mean?" Chifuyu questioned.

"He still remembers his friends, but has no recollection of anything before meeting them. It is most likely trauma induced amnesia. He must take this medicine to keep away the nightmares. The mental strain could be too much for him to handle if he doesn't." The doctor gave Chifuyu a bottle of yellow serum.

"This amount should last for a few months. When you run out, be sure to pick up a new supply here as soon as possible. Understand?"

"Of course doctor. Thank you." Chifuyu then picked up Ichika, who was sitting in a wheelchair due to him still recovering from his injuries, and left the hospital.

And with that, the image slowly faded to black.

* * *

"...ou. Oi! Shirou! Shirou! Are you okay?" Katsumi shook Shirou in an attempt to snap him out of the trance he is in.

"Y-yeah. I'm alright."

"What exactly happened?" Mikki asked.

"I think...I think I just received my clones memories."

Both Katsumi and Mikki were surprised. But Mikki smiled upon this realization.

"So...it seems that a NEVER truly is able to receive memories from their clone. Interesting. I'll have to look into this further."

"Alright mother. C'mon otouto, let's go."

"Hai." All three of them went back to the HQ.

* * *

"Hey Nii-san, what is this?" Shirou picked up a small wooden box on the desk after they entered the room.

"Oh, that? ...It was something I made when I was alive, but it's nothing to me anymore."

Shirou opened it and turned the small handle at the side, as it played a small tune. "I like the melody."

"Hmph."

"It was very skilled of you to make this, Nii-san."

"Thanks, but like I said," Katsumi took the box and threw it over his shoulder. "It is nothing to me anymore."

Shirou just frowned. "Even if we will lose our pasts, and even if we don't need them to continue on, don't you think we should keep the reminders of how we used to be?"

Katsumi just stayed silent for a moment before answering, "That may be, but we shouldn't indulge too much into our pasts, as we have to create our own future."

Shirou merely nodded in agreement.

* * *

After about a week, it was time for the two NEVERs to begin their presentation to have the NEVER project accepted by Foundation X. They arranged the order like this: Katsumi was to participate in each test first, then Shirou. This was done in order to prove that the NEVER project also works from children. Particularly to signal out the differences between someone who has been a NEVER for five years, and one who has been a NEVER for only one to two months, at most.

Test 1: Endurance.

Both Katsumi and Shirou stood in front of the Foundation X researchers to be tested on their abilities. Their first test was to determine if conventional weapons would have any affect on them. Katsumi went first.

The researchers retrieved what appeared to be a cannon from the far end of the room and aimed it at Katsumi. With a press of a button, a large weight was shot at the older Daido with enough force to shatter a man's rib cage.

"Urgh!" Upon impact, Katsumi's body crashed to the ground, and appeared to have lost consciousness. However, barely a moment later, his fingers moved as he opened his eyes. He then immediately stood up, not minding the fact his ribs were fragmented. The operator brought out a machine gun next as he begun to shoot Katsumi. However, despite the number of bullets embedding themselves into his flesh, he merely shrugged it off.

For the final test in weaponry, A young woman brought out what appeared to be a large suit of mechanical armor. It was black and had a katana-like weapon at its side; it also appeared to have wings. The entire piece of technology doesn't seem to cover the users entire body, but only parts of it.

Shirou widened his eyes in realization and cried out, "Nii-san! Be careful! That is a mass produced Uchigane model IS!"

"What?" Katsumi questioned in surprise. He never expected to go up against an actual IS. But he soon smiled, deeming this to be interesting.

The same woman who brought out the IS proceeded to enter the cockpit and activate the machine. Some parts of the suit shifted as the wings and parts of the armor folded out.

Katsumi just stood his ground and said, "Let's do this."

The Uchigane model flew forward using its wings and boosters to propel itself while it raised its weapon. As soon as its target was within range, the woman swung her sword down in an attempt to cleave the NEVER in half. The attack struck, and the older NEVER was sent flying to the far side of the room. He hit the wall hard and crashed onto the floor. It was miracle his body was still in one piece after facing a super weapon like the IS. However, there was a large gash across his left collarbone all the way down past his right hip.

"NII-SAN!" Shirou cried as he saw his surrogate brother's current state. But to his relief, Katsumi had begun to move. He rolled over so that he was lying face down and pushed himself up, not minding the fact there was a large wound across his torso as it continued to bleed.

"Phew...He's fine." Shirou sighed in relief.

"Of course I am, otouto. We have immortal bodies remember?" Katsumi reminded as he walked towards his family.

"Yeah, but against a super weapon like the IS, I couldn't help but worry." he retorted.

"Don't worry, those gadgets can't kill us. Now, it's your turn."

The observers had begun to write down their findings as the younger walked up for his own test.

After Katsumi, a cannon was aimed and pointing straight at Shirou. The operator carefully took aim as the weapon's barrel was aligned with Shirou's torso, and fired.

"Guragh!" Shirou cried from the impact equaling to be slammed by truck at full speed. The force of the impact also cracked his ribs. He crashed down to the floor. For a few seconds, he was lying there unmoving. However, his fingers began to twitch as his eyes snapped open. He propped himself up to stand quickly, as if he wasn't hurt in the first place. "Is that all there was?" he questioned casually.

Apparently, it wasn't over since the tester brought out a Gatling turret next.

"Oh...well, this may sting." Shirou mused. The weapon of mass destruction begun to rapidly shoot a barrage of bullets at the young NEVER. Every projectile made its mark as numerous holes leaking blood covered Shirou's body, but he was still able to move like normal due to his immortal body. While it had stung, Shirou felt no other pain besides that. Another weapon was rendered useless against the NEVER project. The observers scribbled down notes as the elderly man in a suit next to them seemed interested.

Now...it was time to face the IS. The same woman who used the weapon against Katsumi was using against Shirou as well. However, instead of using the IS's main weapon like with Katsumi, the woman is just using the suit's gauntlets. Shirou frowned from the fact that he was being underestimated. So he spoke up.

"Hey, instead of taking it easy on me just because I'm a kid, use that sword."

The woman was surprised at his instruction, so he glanced at the other researchers for help. They simply nodded as if confirming the decision. Rather reluctantly, she pulled out Uchigane's main weapon. She then entered the same stance she used earlier. A moment later, she lunged forward and slashed Shirou right across the chest, tearing through the flesh like a knife through butter.

The young NEVER was thrown back from the force of of the strike and slammed into the back wall of the room. The attack also exposed the ivory structure of his rib cage, which was dyed crimson from his own blood. He laid flat on the floor, as still as a corpse. The researchers were about to deem this subject to be a failure, but the NEVER begun to move. He slowly pushed himself up and shakily stood on his own feet. The skin on his chest was still cut open, and he appeared to be in major discomfort. However, he simply gritted his teeth and bared through the pain.

The Foundation X researchers were impressed he was still mobile, so they wrote their observations and data. Shirou made his way over to his adopted family. Unfortunately, as he made his way over the skin on some parts of his body, particularly his torso, were squirming and moving in an irregular fashion, as if they were becoming unstable. It meant that his cells were beginning to break down.

Shirou, Katsumi, and Mikki took notice of this as he drew closer. "Mother, the serum." Katsumi said.

"Right." Mikki took out the metal case and opened it, revealing several vials of the cell maintenance enzyme. She grabbed a single container and placed it into the injector. As Shirou stopped in front of them, Mikki handed him the injector. Knowing what this meant, the young NEVER took the device and pressed it against his pectoral, where most of the damage was. He pulled the trigger and felt the soothing liquid flow into his system, repairing the damage that was done to his body as green lights danced around his flesh.

"Much better." Shirou said. "Nii-san, you should take some of this enzyme as well." He gestured to the elder NEVER's damaged body.

"Thanks." Katsumi said as he took his own dose of the enzyme.

The Foundation X researchers then took both NEVER subjects for the next test.

* * *

Next: Fighting prowess.

After discovering that conventional weapons were rendered useless against a NEVER, the researchers decided to test their physical ability.

Katsumi went up first. His opponents were two men that appeared to be wearing black skeletal masks. However, they were deemed to be Masquerade Dopants. Katsumi was doing well in evading their attacks, as well as landing a few heavy hits.

"Come and get it." Katsumi taunted. Taking the bait, both men plunged their knives straight into Katsumi's body, right into the vital organs.

However, instead of dying, Katsumi just laughed. He then pushed his opponents off and smiled, that their attacks are useless. Aggravated, one of the dopants lashed out a spinning roundhouse kick right at Katsumi's neck, causing it to bend at a 90 degree angle to the left as the back of his head was touching the front of his right shoulder. Both men believed their opponent to be dead since his neck was snapped. But to their surprise and shock, Katsumi just grabbed his head with both hands and bent it back into place. Soon enough, the first trial had ended.

After Katsumi was finished, it was Shirou's turn to fight against the masked men. One charged in swinging his knife around while the other just shot a barrage of bullets with a machine gun. However, Shirou rushed in and grabbed the arm that held the knife and snapped it. With a cry, the dopant dropped the knife as his wrist was broken. Shirou wasn't finished as he grabbed the man's other arm and dislocated it before kicking him aside. "Come on, is that all you have?"

Enraged at this child's taunting, one of them lashed out a strong punch to Shirou's head, causing it to snap backwards to the point of his occipital lobe was touching his spine. He stood still for a moment, before grabbing his head, and pushing it back up into place with a series of pops and cracks.

"Let's continue." Shirou then picked up the knife from the ground and twirled it around in his fingers. He then ran forward towards the first masked man and struck him in the temple with the base of the knife. He followed up with an uppercut into the man's sternum, causing him to bend down in pain as Shirou elbowed him in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. He turned around to face the other one, only to see him swing the machine gun like a club. The masked man struck the gun across Shirou's back quite heavily, as his spine was severed. Shirou toppled to the floor with a portion of his vertebrae jutting out quite awkwardly. Thinking that it was over, the man turned to leave, only to hear a small grunt behind him.

He quickly turned around to see Shirou using his hands to push the jutting bone in his spine back into place. With a nauseating pop, the deed was done. The man then became quite fearful. Even though he appeared young, this child was a monster in his perspective. While seeing this moment of hesitation as an opening, the child charged in and sent a sweep kick to knock the man of balance before kicking him in the throat as he fell. Soon enough, both men were taken down by the young NEVER. He quietly walked up to his surrogate brother and mother as the elderly man walked past to give his presentation. His clothes were slightly battered, particularly his shirt being in shreds from being attacked with bullets and knives.

"Looks like we're going to win this," Katsumi said. Upon saying that, the elder man opened his briefcase to reveal numerous USB drives that had a rib cage casing and various letters of certain shapes engraved on. He took out USB drive that had a 'T' that looked like a screaming face and pressed the button.

**TERROR!**

A mechanical voice yelled out. All three members of the Daido family turned around to see where it came from, and saw a horrifying monster. It had black skin and a gold skull with tentacles on its torso and wore a black and silver belt with an orange buckle and a red robe around its waist. It wore a mask that had a white eyepiece and a gold mouth piece. There was also a large blue headpiece with a yellow cape flowing from the back of it.

"What is that?" Shirou questioned.

"…**Gaia Memory…"** The monstrosity proclaimed. The observing staff seemed greatly intrigued by this phenomenon as they directed their full attention towards it.

"That is some tough competition." Shirou stated.

"But NEVER is far superior," Katsumi assured. "Don't worry otouto."

* * *

**A few weeks later…**

Katsumi and Shirou were walking towards the former's car, which was a sleek, blue convertible, after Shirou bought some ice cream. As soon as they were within a few feet of the vehicle, a woman wearing a white business outfit showed up folding a folder. They immediately realized they were from Foundation X since all of its workers wore all white.

The woman that held the folder walked up to Katsumi and handed it to him. He opened it up to see that it was the report on the NEVER project. Curious, Shirou also looked at it. However, he frowned at what he saw since across the front page are large, bright red, office print letters that said: REJECTION.

Unnerved by this, Katsumi tossed the file behind his back and grabbed the woman by the collar of her jacket.

"It's not over yet…" he said. He then pushed the woman aside as Shirou followed. Katsumi got into the driver's seat while Shirou sat in the passenger seat.

"The NEVERs' battle has only begun…" Katsumi started.

"And we don't plan on losing it either…" Shirou finished as he ate the last of his ice cream.

And with that note, they drove off and left the Foundation X worker standing there.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we going to do to win this battle?"

"Well, if we are to be noticed, we would need to gather funds first." Katsumi explained as they parked in their parking lot of their HQ.

"Okay, but how are we going to do that?" Shirou asked as they got out of the car to meet up with Professor Daido.

"Well, since we have immortal bodies, we could work as a mercenary unit. We would be unstoppable"

"Yes, but first, we are going to have to recruit some new members to gain more strength and to make those jobs easier." Mikki explained.

"Who do you have in mind exactly?"

"It all depends, we would have to do some searching, and to divide them amongst you and Katsumi."

"Why?" Shirou wondered as Mikki sat in front of the computer.

"If we are going to be gathering more forces, it depends on their skills and age group. For example, the ones who are closer to adults would be on Katsumi's team, while the children and teenagers would be on your team, Shirou."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense."

"Now then, we should begin searching for suitable corpses for these teams." Mikki then begun to search through various profiles to find suitable recruits.

"I'm all for this plan, but we should figure out a different way to gather funds before starting on gathering members for missions." Katsumi put in.

"What do you have in mind, Nii-san?"

Katsumi started to be engrossed in his thoughts. Then the idea came to him a moment later.

"Hmmm...Shirou, how well can you play an instrument, particularly the guitar?"

"Maybe pretty good if I practice, why do you ask?"

"You'll find out soon." Katsumi replied cryptically before turning to his mother. "Are there any good drummers or other band members on those files, mother?"

Mikki smiled, catching on to her son's intentions and began searching through the data for any suitable candidates, she had enough serum for a couple more NEVERs to be created after all and more than enough enzyme to last them a year.

Among those files were the ones labeled: Seth Tamonten and Rika Mitarashi.

To Be Continued…

* * *

Authors Notes:

I already have a full set of OCs, so I'm no longer accepting any as of now. However, it might change in the future.

And for those who would've thought that the IS would've completely destroyed Katsumi and Shirou...They have immortal bodies and can't die from conventional weapons. Even super weapons like the IS. However, they would need to take more of the serum to recover if that would be the case.

Next Time: Two New Members...and a Music Group?


	3. Shadow of Justice

NEVER Stratos: Shadow of Justice.

BANG!

A gunshot was made. And the sound of a body falling to the ground could be heard in the gas station.

"D-Damn brat! You got in the way!" The convict shouted. The target of the bullet was supposed to be the main gas tank in the station. The shooter aimed to kill everyone here since he was already surrounded and his hostage situation was useless. However, the young boy he had captive jumped in front of the bullet's trail to stop it. He had sacrificed his own life to save many more.

"Get him!" The police tackled the man to the ground, and twisted the gun out of him hands. The perpetrator didn't even react, as he was still spooked at the face of the one he shot. The smile and words of the ten year old boy continued to infest his mind. Even when he was dying of a fatal wound, he had the guts to give him a smile. But the facial expression was anything but positive. On the contrary, it was completely grim. As if it had belonged to the Reaper himself. The killer was unable to get the memory out of his head as the child's smile remained burned into his mind.

The police radioed an ambulance to take the body away as they shoved the culprit into the backseat of the car. As soon as they knew the man was secure, they started up the car and drove off, the siren blared loudly.

A few short moments later, an ambulance pulled up to the scene of the murder, and a single man got out from the driver seat. Many would think the man was an ordinary hospital worker, but the blue streak in his dark hair and knife holster attached to his hip made his identity quite obvious to some. Especially with the certain uniform the man was wearing.

He walked over to the child's corpse, taking in the smile on his face. As if promising the killer misfortune for the remainder of their lives.

"Your profile was right. You are indeed interesting, Seth Tamonten." Katsumi commented.

* * *

**Flashback…**

"Seth Tamonten?" Shirou asked as he looked over the profile. They were in the main room of their HQ, sitting around a large table, looking through a few files regarding the decision of their next recruits. As of now, they were looking a set of records with a photo of a young boy attached to it. The child in the picture was around the same age as Shirou. He appeared to be slim and had short black hair that reaches his neckline and brown eyes. A pair of black rimmed sunglasses was clipped to the front of his shirt.

"It says here that his way of thinking is unusual for someone his age. He views justice above all other and has a strong sense of justice." Katsumi analyzed the data in the documents.

"But how is that a valid enough reason for him to be our next recruit?" The young NEVER asked skeptically. Ever since he had been revived, Shirou had taken up a different mindset regarding a person's abilities and if they are enough to become a NEVER.

"Possibly. But you have to admit it seems interesting." Katsumi replied.

"That may be, but I still fail to see how he would be a good choice."

"It's not his skills, rather his potential. If his way of thinking varies from other his age, then we could see something great later."

"So, you're saying we should recruit him on a gamble on how he will turn out for us?" Shirou inquired.

"Yes. Now that that's settled, we can move on to the next one."

They pulled up the second file, showing a young girl about Shirou's age. She had neck-length hair in a choppy fashion that was dark as the midnight sky, and silver eyes. In Shirou's opinion, she was pretty cute. But her name sounded familiar to him for some reason…

"Rika Mitarashi?"

"From what it says here, is that she is known as a prodigy for being able to activate an IS at the age of five."

"Really now?" Shirou was quite surprised. He never thought that someone was able to use an IS at such a young age.

"Yes. It also says that she is fairly skilled in using it, as well as having a Personal IS named [Raging Tempest] and being a possible Representative Candidate for Japan. However, it also says that she didn't want to be a candidate and disliked the attention, so she quit using her IS a year ago. She has recently been taking up Kendo, just like you."

"Sounds like she would be a good addition to me." Shirou commented.

"Indeed. It also says that she is skilled in playing bass."

"I'm thinking that last is also part for your plan, Nii-san."

"You'll see…" Katsumi answered cryptically.

"Anyway…does she have any family?" Shirou got back on track.

"It says here that she has a mother, father, and a brother named Kazuma."

"So that's why it sounded familiar. As far as I could remember right now, I had a friend named Kazuma Mitarashi." Shirou realized. Although the memories were a bit hazy, he could remember himself hanging out with a young Chinese girl with brown hair in twin tails, a brother and sister both with red hair, and a boy with dark hair. But for some odd reason, he felt as if he had known the girl from somewhere before.

"However based on recent records, it says that she is being targeted by several groups due to her ability with the IS. And just a few days ago, she turned up missing." Katsumi snapped him out of his nostalgia.

However, Shirou's eye began to glaze over as his consciousness was being drawn someplace else.

* * *

The scene was set with a young boy that looked just like Shirou, speaking to another boy his age with dark hair and dark brown eyes. The other children from his memories were also present.

"So your sister went missing a while ago?"Ichika asked.

"Yeah, no one was able to find her." Kazuma explained.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Not really. But I hope she's safe."

"Same here. By the way… what about your sister Ichika? How is she doing?" The red haired boy asked.

"She's fine, Dan. But she's leaving for Germany in a few days." Ichika replied.

"Why?" the twin tailed girl asked.

"She said it's to repay them for helping her save me, Rin." The young Orimura replied…

The scene spontaneously faded to white, causing Shirou to snap back into reality.

* * *

"Mom, search the database to any lead regarding Rika. I have a hunch of the general area where she may be. If she went missing just a short time ago, and is waiting for transport, then it means that they are probably holding her somewhere."

"Was she kidnapped?" Shirou inquired.

"Most likely. Fortunately, we were able to gather enough information regarding the incident. Our Intel states that she was taken by a group known as Phantom Task, and she is being held captive at a small base a few miles away. "Mikki explained.

"Phantom Task is also targeting Seth. Apparently, they are interested in his sense of justice and what is right, and plan to use that to their advantage. I heard that they have been kidnapping children, brainwashing them, and making them into their own soldiers. Making them believe what the organization is doing is for the greater good." Katsumi continued. Seth was one of those children that were on that list. But phantom task decidedly to bide their time and wait until the children grew to the age where they had more strength and could be trained after they had their memories erased. Seth was on that list due to his profile, and his idea of justice which phantom task wanted to take advantage of.

Shirou clicked his tongue in disgust and anger. "Tch. Those pathetic bastards. Their acts just sicken me. And the fact that it is made up by women who want to use their fucking power to terrorize lives just makes it worse."

"Shirou! Don't cuss. You shouldn't be doing that!" Mikki scolded. Even though Shirou was her adopted son who is a NEVER, she still wanted to raise him properly like a real mother would, and that includes to remind him to watch his language.

"Why not? Nii-san does it." Shirou said simply.

"By the way, how do we know this exactly?"

"Remember how we placed surveillance bugs in your home?"

"Yeah."

"We did the same thing to both of them."

"Alright then. Shirou, I'll retrieve Seth, while you save Mitarashi."

"By myself?"

"Of course. It's your chance to show this group, Phantom Task the strength of NEVER."

"Hai, of course." Shirou smirked. "I'll enjoy this assignment." He picked up his hanging NEVER jacket and put it on, allowing the white insignia to be fully visible in the black background. The symbol was made up of 4 snakes entwined around an English sword that was placed in front of a shield. A single ribbon was draped across the shield, and an apple was placed dead center of the symbol over the ribbon with the letters that spelled NEVER printed across it. The same insignia was located on the left breast of the jacket, only in a smaller size. The whole jacket was black with red lines. His uniform as a soldier was completed with his black military pants and boots.

He grabbed his AIS (Anti-IS Sword) from where it leaned against the wall and was about to leave the room.

"Now hold on there Shirou. I want you to wait until we can revive Tamonten. He will be your partner in retrieving Mitarashi." Katsumi said.

"But he won't have any actual combat experience for the mission." Shirou countered.

"Well, I guess he'll get hands on experience." Katsumi smiled.

"Well…if that's what you want Nii-san, then alright."

* * *

**Flashback End**

"What exactly happened here?" Katsumi asked no one in particular as he observed the scene of the crime. The corpse of Seth Tamonten was lying in front of the gas tanks. He walked up to the small body and gazed into its open, empty eyes and grim smile. This expression caused Katsumi to grin. "I gotta admit kid; I like that smile you have." Katsumi was able to read the true meaning behind that single facial expression. An unusual type of mindset for one so young. "Looks like it was the right decision choosing you as our next member." Katsumi was about to pick up the corpse until someone interrupted.

"Hold it right there!" An arrogant female voice shouted.

Calmly, Katsumi turned around to the source of the sudden noise. Before him were 5 women dressed in similar uniforms. The sets of clothing are made up of a white shirt underneath a black blazer paired up with black combat shorts, followed up with black combat boots. Each article of clothing saves for the white shirt and boots had shades of gray lining the fabric. They all stood in a certain V-formation, with one who would be presumed as the leader, in the front.

The woman in front was Japanese with black hair in a short bob cut and cold, calculating dark eyes. The first woman to her left looked to be Australian with long, light-brown hair and blue eyes. The one on the far left had artificial streaks of blue in her strawberry-blonde hair and red eyes; Katsumi assumed her nationality was Russian. The woman on the leader's right had a dark complexion, most likely a spray tan, with dark brown hair that reached her shoulders and dark eyes. Her background seemed to be American. Finally, the woman on the far right looked to be Hispanic with her black tied into a braid and dark eyes that seemed devoid of emotion.

"And who are you exactly?" Katsumi asked the women in black, not really caring who they are.

"It doesn't concern you. We are here for Seth Tamonten." The Japanese woman declared.

"Unfortunately, you arrived too late. He is dead." This statement perturbed the women since their orders were to take the child alive.

"However, I will be taking him with me." He replied as he hoisted the body onto his shoulder.

"Why? You said yourself he is dead. What use do you have for a corpse?" The American asked.

"That is a secret."

"Well, I am sorry, but we can't let you run free. So, we're going to kill you." The leader said as the other women behind her activated their own IS units. If they couldn't take Seth, then at least they could take their anger out by killing someone.

If only they knew that they would be facing Hell soon enough.

"Oh? So I take it that you are Phantom Task. I've been expecting you. You have some information that I need. And I apologize in advance, but you won't be killing me." Katsumi grinned as he placed Seth's body onto the ground.

"Don't get cocky you bastard." The impulsive strawberry-blonde pilot said as she flew in quickly and raised her arm to punch him. However, a mere moment before the point of impact, Katsumi just caught the punch. This feat shocked the grunt troops.

"What the Hell!? How are you able to do that?"

"Sorry, but these toys won't work on me." Katsumi then unsheathed his weapon, which appeared to be a mechanized knife. He pressed the button as the blade begun to whir with energy as it was activated. He was wielding an Anti-IS dagger. He managed to purchase one along with Shirou's Anti-IS sword. The weapons that both NEVERs possess were created to help men combat against the IS. Although there was more gun type weapons made then blade types since it was difficult to fight a super weapon at close range. However, close combat weapons were created just in case. Ironically, these weapons also had shield piercing abilities, meaning that they are able to harm the pilot even if they still have shield energy.

"Do you expect to defeat us with that puny dagger?" The Hispanic pilot mocked.

"Yes. Yes I do." Katsumi said as he charged in.

However, the tanned woman got behind him as she backhanded him straight into a building. Some pieces of debris fell from the wall as it collapsed onto Katsumi.

The Phantom Task operatives had deemed him dead. "Heh, so pathetic. Did he really think he would stand a chance against us?" The other women laughed, until sounds of shuffling were heard from the rubble. They drew their attention to the broken bricks as the NEVER stood up, only with his arm dislocated and bent in a reverse angle and his neck was rotated about 150 degrees.

The IS pilots were surprised. But that feeling grew to shock as they witnessed Katsumi twist his head back around with a single crack using his good arm. He then popped his shoulder back into place and fixed his elbow by bending it the other way.

"Wh-wh-wh-What the FUCK!?" The leader cried. All of them were astonished on how their opponent survived, and didn't die from having his neck snapped. It's safe to say, not even Tabane Shinonono's genetically enhanced body is able to survive through feats like that.

"Told you that you couldn't kill me." Katsumi took this chance in their hesitation to close in on the nearest pilot, which was the strawberry blonde. He jumped up to the point they were face to face….and stabbed his AIS(Anti-IS) Knife right between the eyes. He yanked it out then he jumped back as the corpse crashed to the ground.

"Next…"

"You bastard! You just killed my sex friend." The Australian girl who yelled charged in.

'So she's a lesbian?' Katsumi just jumped back and sidestepped her attack. He then moved behind her and switched his AIS knife to a backhand grip. He then pressed the blade against the pilot's neck and pulled his arm back. He watched the blood spurt from the headless body like a geyser as the head fell to the ground.

"Next…" Katsumi called out in a bored tone. The Hispanic woman, falling for the taunt, flew in with a spear whipped out to cleave Katsumi in two. However, as the weapon was about a foot away from him, the man just grabbed the weapon by its shaft, stopping the pilot's momentum.

The NEVER then spun the short blade in his hand once before hacking the woman's arm off at the elbow.

"Kyah!" The woman shrieked in pain, her eyes drawn to the bloody stump. However, her experience was short lived as Katsumi jumped onto her IS by the cockpit and rammed his AIS knife into the pilot's ribcage, straight into the heart. He yanked his arm up as his blade tore through the Hispanic woman's flesh. He jumped off the machine as it collapsed behind him.

Now all that was left was to deal with the leader and the American brunette, the latter of which sent out a barrage of bullets from a Gatling gun mounted on her IS's shoulder. A good number of them struck Katsumi, but the NEVER just ignored it. But it did catch his attention as Katsumi's target was now the American pilot.

He charged in, paying no mind to the hailstorm of bullets that was aimed towards him. As soon as he got within a few meters radius of her, the brunette had begun to panic.

"S-stay way!" she cried, desperate to flee from the immortal. But with a single leap, he was already in front of her.

"Too late." Katsumi smirked as her sliced the woman's head in half with a single stroke. The upper portion sliding off as the gray matter, which was the pilot's brain, splashed onto the concrete.

Another one down. One more left. The lead woman just scoffed in disappointment from the performance of her troops.

"Tch. Those weaklings. If you want something done right, do it yourself." She growled.

"Unfortunately, you are going to meet the same fate as them. But not before I get what I want from you." Katsumi stated as he twirled the hilt of his AIS Knife around.

"You think I'll submit to an inferior like you?" The leader roared as a thin blade on her forearm extended.

"No, but I will be the one taking you down." He smirked.

"Don't get cocky!" The Phantom Task operative roared, her rage blinding her took out her weapon which was an energy blade sword and starting hacking away like a berserker. Katsumi, easily evaded her attacks, which had become sloppy and unfocused. "Hold still!" Just as she was about to finish and overhead swing, the NEVER sidestepped and grabbed her weapon arm.

He rammed the blade of his AIS knife into a pressure point in her elbow, causing her to scream in agony and drop her weapon. As he let go, the now useless limb fell lifelessly at her side. Katsumi quickly closed in further and cut through the core of the IS, destroying it. He discovered the location of where the cores were located after doing some research with Shirou and his armor of the super weapon crumbled as a device that resembled a choker fell off the woman's neck. Said device was the IS's dormant form, which was destroyed when the core was destroyed.

"Now tell me…Where are you holding Rika Mitarashi?" Katsumi grabbed the fallen woman by the collar of her shirt.

"Kuh, what the hell do you want that brat for?"

"That's for me to know…"

"Well, you won't get anything out of me. I am not going to tell you that we are holding her captive in a safe house in a forest in Shinjuku." The Japanese woman grinned arrogantly, unaware of her verbal mistake.

"Thanks for the info you just blurted out."

"Oh crap! I was thinking out loud again!" The woman panicked. But it ceased when Katsumi stabbed his knife into the back of her skull. He let go of the body as it fell to the ground with a soft thud.

"Heh so weak, even with their super weapons." Katsumi said. He took notice that his cells were starting to break down again. So he injected another dose of the serum to repair his body. After the deed was done, he took out his cell phone and dialed up Shirou.

"Yes? Nii-san?"

"Shirou, I gained information of the Mitarashi. She is located in a safe house in the woods in Shinjuku."

"Thanks. But where did you get this info?"

"The leader of the Phantom Task group that was targeting Tamonten unconsciously blabbed it out loud. And to think I was going to torture her."

"Well, thanks again. See you at base."

"You too, otouto." Katsumi hung up. He slung the body onto his shoulder, got back into the ambulance and drove off. And not a moment too soon; police cars, media, and other ambulances had appeared on the scene a bit later.

* * *

Seth Tamonten used to live a normal life going to school, hanging out with friends and playing video games with his free time. He was making a few friends that he knew he could trust and doing fine in school. He had plans for becoming a detective when he got older cleaning up the streets from scum that caused problems and crime.

But that dream ended with that one incident when he walked past a gas station and was grabbed by a man that was running out of the store. The man held a gun to his head while police wisely stayed back with their weapons trained on the deranged criminal.

Seth instead of crying or struggling like a child his age would, stayed calm think the police officers will do something about like any young child will think at first. But the situation deteriorated when the man pulled him closer to the gas pump threatening to shoot the gas pump to set it off killing anyone that was too close if the officers didn't let him go. Seth on the other noticed that the suspect's grip had loosened on him.

Taking that chance he quickly slipped out of the man's grip which set off the time bomb that was the deranged man. Seeing his only chance of escaping alive the man pointed the gun at the gas pump before depressing the trigger. Instead of an explosion there was the sound of a small body hitting the ground. Seth did what only heroes will do in a movie to save someone else, take the bullet himself or risk a gas explosion that killed or injured more lives. As he laid there on the ground bleeding from the wound that had pieced his heart, Seth gave the man a grim smile. A smile that would be burned into the mind of that man that had killed him as the officers dragged the deranged man away. All he heard was the sirens of the ambulance trying to get to the scene on time, before his vision faded to black and the sound stopped.

The next thing Seth realized was waking up in a strange room, unaware that there were other people present.

"What happened to me? I just took a bullet to the heart, I shouldn't even be alive." Indeed, the boy felt his heart beat slow down and stop. "Was I given life support in time?" he wondered.

"Why did you jump in front of the bullet instead of escaping when you had the chance?" a voice asked.

"Huh?" Seth turned to the source and saw Katsumi, Shirou, and Mikki.

"Who are you guys?"

"Answer my question. Why did you choose to take the bullet?" Katsumi pressed.

"…Even if I managed to run, that psycho's bullet would've hit the gas tank creating an explosion that would've killed me anyways. But mostly because every other person that was there would've shared the same fate." Seth answered.

"What about your goal in life? Wouldn't that have mattered to you?" Shirou asked.

"My goal in life was taken away the moment I was shot. I would do anything to become the person that could clean up the streets even if it means I would have to become darkness itself to drag those bloodthirsty fiends into the black abyss to wander for eternity." Seth spoke with resolve.

Katsumi, upon hearing these words, smiled. "That is a good conviction you have, Tamonten."

Then the question reappeared to his mind how as he still alive."Alright, I have questions. How am I alive? Who are you guys? And what did you inject into my arm?"

"No, you are not alive. You definitely died." Shirou stated.

"What do you mean I died? If I died, when how come I'm still alive?" Seth retorted.

"You're not exactly alive, more like undead."

"What do you mean?" Seth asked again.

"We mean that you were already dead when we found you. But we took you back here and resurrected you by injecting this serum into your arm. And if you don't take this cell maintenance enzyme regularly, you will go back to being a corpse." Katsumi explained as he held up a small vial of the liquid.

"You have a choice: either go back to being dead, or join us as a member of NEVER. With us, your goal will be completed." Katsumi held up the black and red jacket out to the ten year old.

"…" The newly revived NEVER was silent as he took a few moments to process this. Before the offer was made to Seth about his position right now, without the injections he will just become a corpse again. He was given a second chance at life after he selflessly sacrificed his own life just before awaking again. The only question that remained in his head when accepted the offer was, what was there to lose?

"I accept." He answered with determination. They all smiled as Mikki placed a set of clothes for Seth since he was only in his underwear at the moment.

"Welcome to the team. We should get you a weapon you are most suitable first mission is very soon." Katsumi replied as he and Shirou moved over to a weapons rack on the far wall of the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…what do mean soon? Shouldn't we get to training first?"

"No time. We have someone to save from Phantom Task. Our mission is to retrieve her from a safe house in Shinjuku." Shirou answered.

"Phantom Task? You mean that rumored underground organization? We're up against them?" Seth was astonished.

"Yep. Now's your chance to fulfill your goal. Or is your resolve beginning to waver?" Katsumi said.

"Don't be ridiculous. I won't let an evil organization such as Phantom Task to exist." Seth claimed with conviction.

"Glad to hear that. Now which weapon would you like?" Shirou gestured to the dozens of weapon on hand. Seth's attention was drawn toward a set of twin semi-automatic pistols, firearms and explosives on the wall.

"I'll go with those." Shirou looked to where Seth was looking and smiled as he retrieved the weapons.

"Any particular reason?" Katsumi inquired.

"I'm pretty good with them at the Fair stands." Seth answered.

"Well, you made an excellent choice. Explosives are always awesome. And you've chosen good firearms: Semi-automatic pistols, machine guns, and an Anti-IS assault rifle. Against a group like Phantom Task, you'll need weapons like these." Shirou said as he had begun packing the weapons away.

Seth had finished getting dressed in black military pants, a t-shirt, and the NEVER Jacket. "Thanks. But could you fill me in more about this mission?"

"I'll explain on the way." Shirou answered.

"How do we get there exactly?"

"I'll get transport ready. Be sure to grab a parachute, goggles, and a good amount of serum with you." Mikki said as she had begun to call the pilot.

"Yes Mother." Shirou said. He grabbed his own NEVER jacket and slipped it on. He also retrieved his AIS sword that leaned against the wall and placed in in a sheathe on his back.

* * *

**Later**

The young NEVER soldiers got into the plane and took off. In about an hour, the aircraft was over the relative area of the Phantom Task base. Shirou scanned the area, and eventually found a patch of gray in the dense green forest.

"Over there." Shirou instructed the pilot as he pointed in the right direction.

The pilot nodded as he completed the request.

"Is that the safe house?" Seth inquired as he got the equipment ready.

"Yeah. Grab a parachute." Both NEVER children grabbed the items and were on standby at the door.

"Let's do this." Seth said.

When they were exactly over the building, Shirou and Seth jumped out and opened their parachutes when they were halfway down their descent.

**To Be Continued...**

* * *

Author's Notes:

To be honest, when I created Rika Mitarashi, I had no idea that there already was a character in the IS universe named Kazuma Mitarashi.

Hey guys, I have this idea for a Kamen Rider Kiva and Highschool DxD crossover. It takes place after the ending of Kiva, in the future where the Neo-Fangire exist. It revolves around Taiga's son who becomes the New Saga. He gets killed, but was reincarnated as a Devil, more specifically a Pawn of Sitri(Pawn because this piece is the most versatile). The son is also the heir for the title of King. You can probably guess what will happen to Kivat II.

The son is also a full blood Fangire, his only powers are him as a Fangire and Kamen Rider Saga, no Sacred Gear.

What do you think? Please leave thoughts through PM or Review.


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